PC Magazine reports that bookies at the Ladbrokes betting service give 1:4 odds that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will be the next Microsoft CEO. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg comes in second place with 7:1 odds against, while Steven Sinofsky, previously head of the Windows division, comes in third at 12:1 odds against.

Without intending any disrespect, I can't imagine a worse choice for the next CEO than Mr. Elop. His blind fealty to Windows at Nokia cost the stock an 85% drop on his watch. Microsoft needs new directions and new ideas, not another Windows loyalist.

Elop did EXACTLY what he was supposed to do at Nokia. Who the f--k cares about Nokias stock price?

Of course he will be CEO, and he will be very, very good on the business side. The success of Microsoft now hinges on Elop's ability to find a sly technical right hand (Bill Gates was brilliant in both camps, but let's face it - that combination is as rare as the design/business savvy combination of Steve Jobs.)

He drastically cut costs, oversaw the purchase of NSN (who just won huge contracts in China/Russia) for pennies on the dollar, and steered D&S in such a way that gave it implicit Microsoft financial backing.

Elop moving to make Nokia control 80% of the WP market made sure Microsoft couldn't screw them over. Instead they got purchased at 7B euros (more if you factor in platform support payments which as a result of the deal is now pure financial upside, and marketing support).

That move caused a multiweek tear on the stock. Any stockholder that got in around $2 is extremely happy now that its near $6.

Without Elop, Nokia would be like BBRY. Needing a seller without a buyer and destined to be chopped to pieces.

The only regrettable part is that we will never know if Elop's vision would've saved Nokia. Q3 will tell us a lot more, but the historic turnaround in the making won't happen. Microsoft stepped in.

Elop wasn't in a desirable situation when he came to Nokia. Managing Nokia was like jumping out of an airplane and trying to build a parachute while you were falling.

OSNews aside, if he's not CEO of Microsoft, he will at least be part of the SLT (Julie Larson Greene will even report to him) underscoring just how valuable of an executive he is.